Erste Asset Management GmbH Has $26.69 Million Stock Holdings in Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated $VRTX

Erste Asset Management GmbH reduced its position in Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:VRTX) by 8.6% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 67,517 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock after selling 6,386 shares during the period. Erste Asset Management GmbH’s holdings in Vertex Pharmaceuticals were worth $26,685,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of VRTX. Police & Firemen s Retirement System of New Jersey increased its holdings in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 3.7% in the second quarter. Police & Firemen s Retirement System of New Jersey now owns 39,035 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $17,378,000 after purchasing an additional 1,393 shares during the last quarter. Bailard Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 0.5% during the 2nd quarter. Bailard Inc. now owns 38,147 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $16,983,000 after buying an additional 200 shares during the last quarter. Leuthold Group LLC bought a new stake in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals during the 3rd quarter worth about $5,030,000. Advisory Resource Group acquired a new position in Vertex Pharmaceuticals in the 3rd quarter valued at about $1,286,000. Finally, Generali Asset Management SPA SGR raised its holdings in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 41.8% in the 3rd quarter. Generali Asset Management SPA SGR now owns 23,569 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $9,231,000 after acquiring an additional 6,942 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 90.96% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

VRTX has been the topic of several research reports. Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and issued a $570.00 target price on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals in a research report on Friday, February 13th. Oppenheimer raised Vertex Pharmaceuticals from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $540.00 price objective on the stock in a report on Friday, February 13th. Sanford C. Bernstein reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $577.00 price objective on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals in a research report on Friday, February 13th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $460.00 to $515.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 10th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus raised their price target on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $445.00 to $466.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, February 13th. Twenty-two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Vertex Pharmaceuticals has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $542.00.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ VRTX opened at $480.13 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $121.97 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.32 and a beta of 0.30. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $465.74 and its 200 day moving average is $431.13. Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated has a 52 week low of $362.50 and a 52 week high of $519.68.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:VRTX) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 12th. The pharmaceutical company reported $5.03 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.05 by ($0.02). The firm had revenue of $3.19 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.18 billion. Vertex Pharmaceuticals had a return on equity of 24.30% and a net margin of 32.94%.The company’s quarterly revenue was up 9.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $3.98 earnings per share. Equities research analysts forecast that Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated will post 15.63 earnings per share for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Vertex Pharmaceuticals news, EVP Ourania Tatsis sold 4,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, January 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $474.99, for a total transaction of $2,137,455.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 42,293 shares in the company, valued at $20,088,752.07. The trade was a 9.62% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, EVP Duncan Mckechnie sold 4,910 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $487.65, for a total value of $2,394,361.50. Following the sale, the executive vice president owned 17,559 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,562,646.35. The trade was a 21.85% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders sold a total of 168,937 shares of company stock valued at $77,879,922 over the last three months. 0.20% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals News Summary

Here are the key news stories impacting Vertex Pharmaceuticals this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Profile of CEO Reshma Kewalramani in TIME highlights strong leadership and continued R&D momentum, which can support investor confidence in Vertex’s long-term pipeline and strategy. Article Title
• Positive Sentiment: Market commentary noting Vertex’s relative performance vs. the Dow suggests the stock still has investor interest and can attract momentum buyers after pullbacks. Article Title
• Neutral Sentiment: General coverage in Nasdaq-100 roundup pieces points to continued attention from index investors and analysts — useful for liquidity and index-fund flows but not an immediate catalyst. Article Title
• Neutral Sentiment: Recent Q4 results (Feb 12) showed revenue growth (~9.5% y/y) but a tiny EPS miss ($5.03 vs. $5.05 consensus). Fundamentals remain strong, but the small miss tempers near-term upside until forward guidance or pipeline news arrives. (Earnings release/public filings)
• Negative Sentiment: Multiple insider sales by several senior execs on Feb 25 — including large disposals such as EVP Duncan McKechnie (4,910 shares; ~21.9% reduction) and several other EVPs/CAO — collectively amount to roughly $4.6M in disclosed sales. Clustered insider selling can trigger short-term selling pressure and signals profit-taking or personal liquidity needs rather than company weakness, but markets often interpret heavy insider sales as a negative near-term indicator. SEC Filing (example)

About Vertex Pharmaceuticals

Vertex Pharmaceuticals Inc is a Boston-based biotechnology company focused on the discovery, development and commercialization of therapies for serious diseases. Founded in 1989, Vertex built its reputation on research-driven drug development and is best known for its work in cystic fibrosis (CF), where its portfolio of small-molecule CFTR modulators transformed standards of care for many people with the disease. The company operates research and development, manufacturing and commercial organizations and serves patients and healthcare systems in multiple international markets.

Vertex’s marketed products center on CFTR modulators that target the underlying cause of cystic fibrosis rather than just treating symptoms.